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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
उच्छास्त्रं शास्त्रितं चेति पौरुषं द्विविधं मतम् । अत्रोच्छस्त्रमनर्थाय परमार्थाय शास्त्रितम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ucchāstraṃ śāstritaṃ ceti pauruṣaṃ dvividhaṃ matam | atrocchastramanarthāya paramārthāya śāstritam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उत्-शास्त्रं शास्त्रितम् च इतिut-śāstraṃ śāstritam ca iti"outside scripture" and "by scripture"
पौरुषं द्वि-विधं मतम्pauruṣaṃ dvi-vidhaṃ matamhuman effort is held to be twofold
अत्र उत्-शास्त्रम् अन्-अर्थायatra ut-śāstram an-arthāyahere, outside scripture — to ruin
परम-अर्थाय शास्त्रितम्parama-arthāya śāstritamby scripture — to the highest good
Translation
«Human effort is held to be twofold: “outside scripture” and “by scripture”; and here, effort outside scripture leads to ruin, and by scripture — to the highest good».
Version
fe4dd88ac31f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second chapter opens with a distinction worth stating, for it is the foundation of all that follows. Effort is either ucchāstra, «outside scripture», or śāstrita, «by scripture». That is, effort by itself decides nothing: it leads both to ruin and to good, depending on whether it is directed.
This position, I think, is the best beginning for a chapter on working with oneself, and here is why. It is usually thought the main thing is to try hard. Here it is said: evildoers too try, and more diligently than most; and so the question is not effort but channel.
Add what the Vaishnava side adds to this and what makes the distinction workable. It asks: how does one know that my effort is «by scripture»? And it answers with a rule cited at Varāha (4.31): it is required that three coincide — scripture, a teacher, and the company of the honest. Its ground is simple: everyone interprets a book to his own advantage, and a person acting «by scripture» alone usually acts by himself.
Add that this whole chapter appears, apparently, taken from the «Yoga-vāsiṣṭha»: its verses occur there almost word for word, and their style is the same. This detail is worth mentioning: the last book of the collection, in its second half, is an excerpt from another's work; and this once more shows how these books came together.